The Desolation of Nordhelm

Greetings and welcome. Some of you may know me from around the site while most of you do not. I have been DMing for approximately six years, both at the game table and on various online sites (such as this fine one). I am always available via PM and AIM and am certainly an "approachable" DM. Now that the introduction is out of the way, let's get this show on the road.

First of all: I do not want you to create a character sheet at all. Instead, I want you to create a person, filled with life, background, and personality. Let me repeat myself:

Do NOT create a character sheet, create a living being!

In regards to this game:
This will be a Viking campaign with elements of horror, as such, there are certain things you should keep in mind as you apply.

1) To cooperate with me in setting the mood: A player who refuses to allow himself to be swept up in the game, and who will not portray his character as scared or shocked when the situation warrants, destroys the mood not only for himself but for the entire group. 2) To accept that horrific events will happen to them: In a horror campaign, not every ending is a happy one. The PCs will, at times, encounter opponents too powerful and too terrible for them to defeat. They will not always be able to prevent their loved ones from suffering. They won't have as high a survival rate as characters in other campaigns. They should not expect every fight to be winnable and every plotline to end on a positive note. 3) To create horror-appropriate characters: Horror works only when the characters have something to lose. A character with a rich background, goals and ambitions, and friends and family is a much better choice for a horror game than the stoic loner with no emotional attachments. If a character fears nothing, then nothing inspires fear, and while that might fit certain heroic archetypes, it doesn't encourage horror roleplaying. 4) To avoid metagame thinking: A character in a horror game who thinks, "Dear gods, that creature utterly ignored my fireball! It cannot be a normal troll!" is fine. A player who grows irate at me for creating a flame-breathing troll is not. Fear is about surprises and the unknown. Trust me enough to accept that I have a reason for making changes. Furthermore, don't assume that I won't let a character die; this is a horror game, after all. The danger is real, and the players should treat it as such. 5) To tell me if it's gone too far: This is a game. This is about having fun. If my idea of horror goes further than you're comfortable with, tell me so.

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The Setting:
The world is young. Monsters and beasts roam the wilds and kingdoms have not yet been forged. This is Europe during the 9th to 10th century with a fantastical twist. The only magic that exists is extremely wild or wielded by the darkest of forest demons. I repeat: there is NO PLAYER MAGIC.
Sources used to inspire this setting:
--Iron Heroes
--Heroes of Horror
--The 13th Warrior/The Eaters of the Dead
--Beowulf
--Norse Mythology (yes, there will be elements of the 18th century re-awakening and romanticizing of the "Viking")

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Application:
1) A paragraph describing your character's looks in detail. I don't want to see anything like "average height", be specific.
2) A paragraph describing your character's personality, including a short roleplay of these two scenes:

Describe a short scene starting from your character entering the tavern.

Describe this scene, including how he interacts with members of his family and what would bring him to visit them in this fashion.

3) An in-depth background, including memorable childhood events, family members, friends, as well as what has given your character his current goals.
4) The following questionnaire:

How does he interact with the others within a group? What is his role (and I don't mean “meatshield”, “wizard,” etc.)?

And how is he “not as he seems”? (A deep, dark past doesn’t count.) Maybe he knows how to dance. Something that if others looked at him, they would make a judgment call, put you in a niche of some type, but he defies that niche. Tell me how. I want one or two skills that would surprise others if they found out he knows them. (“What? He can x? Nuh-uh!”) And also include personality traits, positive or negative, that would similarly surprise others.

What are his goals, conscious and perhaps subconscious?

How easily does he love? Not necessarily romantic love, but in general? Does he show it? How so?

Is he racist at all, either now or in his past?

All people believe something that is not true, both about the world around them (“The world is a dark, hateful place, and anybody who seems happy is just faking it.”) and about themselves (“I'm a very forgiving person - these grudges I carry don't mean I don't forgive.”) What lies/untruths does your character believe about themselves and the world around them?

How is he about material possessions? Does he like having really quality items? Is he miserly with stuff or giving? How does he feel about money? When he has extra cash, what does he do with it? Does he think having a lot of it would solve most of his problems, ie seeing how well the rich are treated, or is he wise enough to understand, consciously or subconsciously, that money cannot buy what he's looking for? (Which begs the question, what exactly IS he looking for?)

What does he perceive his major problems to be? What does he perceive the solutions to those problems to be? Let's say, a magic wand was waved and all his problems were solved. What then? What does he really *want*? If he were totally free of his issues, would he look for love and settle down? Maybe start an art gallery? Or a focus group for paladins wrestling with their blackguard side having troubles fitting into society?

What are his religious beliefs? Spiritual without being religious, or vice versa? Doesn’t like the gods, yet sees them as a tool when needed? Or faithfully attending the services of a particular deity and very prayerful as well?

What does he fear? Both in terms of getting the heebie-jeebies, and deeper stuff. For instance, do bugs/undead/dirty kitchens freak him out? If a spider crawls on your big, tough warrior, will he shriek like a little girl and fling it off? Some people don't fear anything, and that's fair, but most people have some secret (or not so secret) thing that really creeps them out. Deeper fears might include - never succeeding, whatever that means to them; succeeding, because self-destructive tendencies can be much more subtle than something blatant like alcoholism; that their parents will never love them, no matter how hard they try - and if that sounds stupid, I know 50 year old, mature adults who still struggle with that fear; when the time comes that they are truly needed, they won't be up to the task; etc. Even if your character doesn't have any of the first types of fear, they WILL have some of the latter. Everyone does.

How much of a temper does he have? What sorts of things set him off? How likely is he to lose his cool? Does he think with his head, or feel with his heart more?

~~~

The Character:
I realize that creating a character concept requires at least a certain amount of character building information, so here goes:

1) The only book allowed is Iron Heroes (Revised) and the Player's Companion. If you do not have a copy, PM me and we might be able to work something out, since the fighter, barbarian, and rogue are only changed a little. Again, there is NO player magic in this campaign, at least to start out with.
2) Keep in mind a viking setting. Playing characters from that time period who are non-viking are fine, as long as there is a reason for you to be consorting with the pirates and explorers known as the norsemen.
3) The only race allowed is human.
4) We will be creating characters together once accepted. Keep in mind when creating your being, that you will be starting at a very low level.

Wow! Wall of text! Like I said earlier, feel free to PM me, contact me on AIM, or ask questions here. You have until the 30th of June (a week) to apply. Application is rolling so if the first 5 applications are amazing, I will close the thread. Good luck everyone!

Game Description:

"Do you not see what I see?
Do you not hear death approaching?"
--Final words of Jarl Grimr II, last ruler of Nordhelm

Once upon a time, Nordhelm was a thriving city. Skalds still remember Nordhelm's best may-fairs and scribes can recount the celebrated lives of the Jarls, back many generations into history, who helped turn the farmlands into a village into a town into a city. Skilled craftsmen of all sorts populated the Nordhelm economy with works of such intense mastery that merchants would embark on pilgrimages to be the first one of the season.

It was the first of these merchants, last spring, who happened upon a different Nordhelm. The Jarl of that time, Jarl Grimr II, had taken ill and half of the population of Nordhelm had disappeared. Livestock were few and far between and the work of the remaining craftsmen was mediocre at best. Though troubling, the merchants were more annoyed than worried. They left and made sure to tell those they passed in the wilds of what they found. Most merchants turned back, but a faithful few stayed the course. A month after the first merchants of the season had arrived, the last people to see Nordhelm and live to tell of it arrived.

No male survived between the ages of ten and sixty. Women were bruised, malnourished, pale, and pregnant. Jarl Grimr the II had gone mad and locked himself in the highest tower of his fortress. Stray animals meandered the streets, rife with disease and fleas.

Still, it was after the sun set that the merchants truly experienced the new horror of Nordhelm. Only two of the original five merchants ever made it out of Nordhelm and of those two, only one survived with any recognizable portion of his wits. Unfortunately, the man chewed off his own tongue.

So what horror lay in Nordhelm? What eldritch myth arose from the lands to consume the shining beacon of art? The two merchants who survived can only hint at the depraved terrors they experienced while any who have gone back have never been seen again. What about you, stranger? Will you brave the dreaded wilds? Will you survive the bitter voyage? Will you discover Nordhelm's fate?

Broad-shouldered and imposing, Eirik of the Axe tops out at almost seven feet in height. His eponymous axe is carefully and thoroughly maintained, and it hangs loose at his side at almost all times. Hanging loose, also, is a mane of disorganized blonde hair. Even in combat he eschews a helm, his hair flows free, “for if he can reach mine head, I’ve already lost.” His green eyes leak out from behind a patchy beard. For all his height, Eirik is but a young man, though clearly a man by his musculature, which is clearly defined without being unnaturally large. He weighs shy of twenty stone (280 lbs.), with only an inch or so of insulation surrounding his abs. Closer inspection would reveal a number of scars across his back and legs, and a few small ones on his face. Additionally, he has a tattoo in the shape of a scar on his left shoulder (matching Bjorn’s, see below).

Personality:

Eirik is a man who presents in two very different ways. To those he barely knows, particularly men, he presents as taciturn, near silent. His interactions are very slow to warm. Among children, or with friends, Eirik lights up. He engages children quickly, in play or in conversation, and is known to allow himself to serve as a climbing apparatus for small children. With his friends he is perfectly convivial, cracking a smile easily, and jokes freely. Few topics of conversation provoke intensity for him, the exception being things martial. That intensity, of course, carries over. In combat, save for playful wrestling, he is deeply serious, eschewing the raging of his peers for a deep, dispassionate craftsmanship.

At the tavern:
The man strode in awkwardly, dipping his shoulder and head to slip beneath the top of the opening. Raising a hand in greeting to a knot of compatriots in the corner, he crossed the open space between door and bar in three long strides. Making eye contact with the draughtsman, he spoke in his still-descending voice “mead, if you would.” Deliberately, he drew the appropriate coinage from a small pocket by his side, exchanging it for the horn of golden liquid. Eirik walked towards the knot of peers in the corner, eventually leaning his left hand uncomfortably on a chair too short-backed to support so tall a man, and asked “any news of the ships today?”

With Family:
Ana looked up at the big man emerging from the forest. “Cousin Eirik!” she yelled, scrambling to her feet. She tore down the path from the front of the humble cottage where she lived with her parents and sisters. Only five, she carried a doll in one hand. Eirik dropped the cord he was holding, scooping the little girl up in his arms, seating her on his shoulders. Holding her leg securely with one hand, he dragged the pallet of firewood to his aunt and uncle’s cottage. “Frederik! Annika! Emma!” he called, “your firewood is here!” The three were already waiting, though, alerted by Ana’s excitement. Eirik leaned down to deposit his younger cousin. He smiled at the others, and said “this will have to be the last delivery for some time. They’ve asked me to sail on the next raid. I hope this will keep you in warmth until we return. I’ll try to bring something nice back for the girls.”

Background:

Eirik’s father Karl was a harsh man, beating him with some frequency, using switches, belts, and anything else to hand. This private poor character was either unsuspected or ignored because of Karl’s popularity and prowess—things of which Eirik can only dream. Karl’s wife Ana was unable to intervene on Eirik’s behalf. When Eirik was nearly eight, Karl was disarmed and fell overboard and drowned while on a raid. To this day, Eirik carries the axe Karl lost when he was lost at sea. At that time, Karl’s younger brother Frederik took Eirik and his mother in. When Eirik was almost twelve, his mother died of the wasting sickness. Not long thereafter, Annika gave birth to a girl, named in honor of Eirik’s mother. The elder daughter, Emma, is two years older, and was born when Eirik was eight. He has taken an active interest in helping raise the two girls, as best he could. At the same time, he grew up near the cottage of his friend Bjorn and Bjorn’s family.

Bjorn was more or less Eirik’s opposite, superficially. Small, wiry, brunette, enthusiastic and extraverted. When they were young, the two boys were near-inseparable, wrestling, throwing knives or axes, playing at being warriors on the dragonships. Two years ago, however, another clan raided the small holdings of Eirik’s clan. Eirik and Bjorn returned from gathering wood in the forest about the same time the raiders were fleeing; though they were able to force their way through the escape, Bjorn was unfortunate enough to suffer a serious axe-wound to his left shoulder. His entire arm stopped working. As a result of the injury, Bjorn became unable to serve as a warrior—he couldn’t properly row on the dragonship.

About ten months ago, Bjorn’s parents managed to arrange a marriage for Bjorn, bringing a wife, Osa, under their roof. Bjorn, of course, is thrilled, though he has less time for Eirik now. It has recently become apparent that Osa is pregnant, expecting to bring even more young life into this particular neck of the village. Spending less time with Bjorn has led Eirik to start developing friendships with the other young men of the clan, with whom he hopes to sail with on raids. The clan, simultaneously, is negotiating, essentially, a merger with a nearby clan (from which another PC may come?).

Eirik's somewhat distant relationship with his peers in the clan can be explained in several ways. First is the depth of his attachments to family and to Bjorn. Additionally, the abuse from, and then the loss of, his father left him somewhat stunted. Once he picked up his father’s axe, he was never far from it—he has kept it closer to his heart than anyone not named Bjorn. Even when chopping firewood with a house-axe, he keeps bitr°x close at hand. When he has time to kill, he loops its leather thong around his left wrist and spends hours drilling every stroke the skeggox could make. He strove to master every step of footwork, every nuance of balance. Uphill. Downhill. In a foot of water. Headed out to sea, coming towards land. Loose gravel. Every circumstance he could imagine and re-create.

The other recent development in Eirik’s life is the slow-moving realization that he’s not particularly interested in women, but that he is interested in men. It’s a thing he has only started to realize makes him very different from his peers, and it makes him very uneasy. It is, after all, not in keeping with cultural traditions of masculinity.

Questions

How does he interact with the others within a group? What is his role (and I don't mean “meatshield”, “wizard,” etc.)?

Eirik has a strong preference for simplicity in his life. He favors following orders to giving them. He strives for consensus and cooperation. He follows strong leaders, tries to contribute to decisions constructively, and do what’s needed. In combat, he tries to get to the front, protect his friends, and do what’s instructed.
And how is he “not as he seems”? (A deep, dark past doesn’t count.) Maybe he knows how to dance. Something that if others looked at him, they would make a judgment call, put you in a niche of some type, but he defies that niche. Tell me how. I want one or two skills that would surprise others if they found out he knows them. (“What? He can x? Nuh-uh!”) And also include personality traits, positive or negative, that would similarly surprise others.

His sexual preferences deviate from the socially accepted, not merely by orientation, but by the role he prefers within that orientation. Few would expect a man of his stature and martial inclination to be able to make an outfit for a doll in under an hour, a skill he learned from his aunt, in an effort to help raise the girls.

What are his goals, conscious and perhaps subconscious?

His two foremost goals are to exceed his father’s martial talents and to eclipse his father’s reputation in the community.
On a deeper level, he seeks the companionship of a monogamous male partner. He recognizes that impossibility, and is preparing for the inevitable, necessary marriage to a woman to generate more Vikingr babies. His hope is to find a woman who understands his condition.

How easily does he love? Not necessarily romantic love, but in general? Does he show it? How so?

He is very slow to love, but when it comes to pass, it is deep and abiding. He shows it with actions long before he is willing to speak the words. His few close attachments come from either long years of friendship (particularly Bjorn), or from a combination of years and a familial, nurturing relationship (his family). While he likes a number of his other contemporaries, his affection for them isn’t nearly so deep.

Is he racist at all, either now or in his past?

Other than a general cultural bias towards the Vikingr, Eirik is not racist.

All people believe something that is not true, both about the world around them (“The world is a dark, hateful place, and anybody who seems happy is just faking it.”) and about themselves (“I'm a very forgiving person - these grudges I carry don't mean I don't forgive.”) What lies/untruths does your character believe about themselves and the world around them?“All things happen for a reason.” Though he has a hard time reconciling that with the abuse he lived through.
“Good things come to those who wait.” He’s waiting.
“If I fight my best, I’ll be okay in the end.” He hasn’t seen enough real combat to contradict this. He put on a good enough showing to keep Bjorn safe, and to preserve his own welfare, but that wasn’t a full-on assault.
How is he about material possessions? Does he like having really quality items? Is he miserly with stuff or giving? How does he feel about money? When he has extra cash, what does he do with it? Does he think having a lot of it would solve most of his problems, ie seeing how well the rich are treated, or is he wise enough to understand, consciously or subconsciously, that money cannot buy what he's looking for? (Which begs the question, what exactly IS he looking for?)

He’s looking for respect from his peers, so if money can produce that, sure, it’s useful. If he ever had a lot of money, he would probably use it to take care of family. His preference would be for utilitarian equipment.
What does he perceive his major problems to be? What does he perceive the solutions to those problems to be? Let's say, a magic wand was waved and all his problems were solved. What then? What does he really *want*? If he were totally free of his issues, would he look for love and settle down? Maybe start an art gallery? Or a focus group for paladins wrestling with their blackguard side having troubles fitting into society?

His most insuperable problem is his homosexuality—and it’s not one he really knows to have a solution, other than his continued silence. His other major problem is his youth, which time itself will cure. Additionally, he'd quite like to improve his standing in the community--that's tied in to his youth and inexperience.

What are his religious beliefs? Spiritual without being religious, or vice versa? Doesn’t like the gods, yet sees them as a tool when needed? Or faithfully attending the services of a particular deity and very prayerful as well?

Eirik is a dutiful, if grudging, devotee of Thor. He attends the appropriate rituals, makes the appropriate obeisances, but does not go out of his way to exceed the minimum expectations of a worshipper.
What does he fear? Both in terms of getting the heebie-jeebies, and deeper stuff. For instance, do bugs/undead/dirty kitchens freak him out? If a spider crawls on your big, tough warrior, will he shriek like a little girl and fling it off? Some people don't fear anything, and that's fair, but most people have some secret (or not so secret) thing that really creeps them out. Deeper fears might include - never succeeding, whatever that means to them; succeeding, because self-destructive tendencies can be much more subtle than something blatant like alcoholism; that their parents will never love them, no matter how hard they try - and if that sounds stupid, I know 50 year old, mature adults who still struggle with that fear; when the time comes that they are truly needed, they won't be up to the task; etc. Even if your character doesn't have any of the first types of fear, they WILL have some of the latter. Everyone does.

He fears that someday he will see his cousins’ deaths or funerals. He worries about the possibility that his sexual preferences will become public knowledge. He also worries that he will fail to live up to the standard of manhood his father set in the public sphere.

How much of a temper does he have? What sorts of things set him off? How likely is he to lose his cool? Does he think with his head, or feel with his heart more?

Eirik is very slow to express anger. While he may find a thing or person obnoxious, irksome, or even angering, he is very slow to express it. When he finally does express his anger, the scope is massive—it may not be a big thing that finally sets him off, and the response may seem utterly disproportionate. He tends to feel with his heart, and suppress with his mind, as well as he can.

Hm... I might be interested as I have been looking for a game without much magic for a couple of weeks, but I don't have the Iron Heroes and Expanded Iron Heroes books. From what I have read so far the Man-at-Arms could be a class for me.
Will have to look more at it tomorrow.

EDIT: It would seem I spoke too soon. Iron Heroes is an incredible book, and I'll definitely get something up and running for this game!
Btw, what exactly do you mean Expanded Iron Heroes? To my limited knowledge after doing a net search, only your thread came up in the search for "Expanded Iron Heroes". Do you mean the Revised Handbook or the Player's Companion book?